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Concentration on crime hotspots leads to fewer shooting victims

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Before sharing what she said was “incredible information” about the number of young gun victims in the Queen City on Wednesday, Police Chief Terri Theetge thanked officers who have worked to keep Cincinnati safe. “They’ve worked so hard,” Theetge told members of the city’s Public Safety Committee. “We had Taste of Cincinnati, a sold-out Reds game, a Flying Pig marathon — many, many other events — and they all went off without a hitch.” Theetge then went into the details of what happens every day to keep people, especially children, out of harm’s way. “I’m happy to report that year to date, we have 50 percent fewer youth gun violence victims than the same period last year,” she said. “Last year, there were 24. This year, there are 12, which is still 12 too many.” One reason for the decline in youth shooting deaths is the intense police focus on the four percent of Cincinnati’s geographic area where more than 30 percent of the city’s gun crimes occur. One example of that focus is the water barriers that police have set up on Republic Street north of Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine to stem the flow of what investigators call concentrated violence. “It keeps coming back to gun violence, you know,” Theetge said. “There are too many stolen guns on the streets.” For grieving families, there are also too many unsolved cases, including the shooting death of recent Withrow graduate Lamon Wiggins and the murder of 11-year-old Dominic Davis last fall in the West End. “So far, we haven’t made any arrests in those two specific cases, but that doesn’t mean the work is done,” Theetge said. “Investigators are continuing to follow leads.” WLWT Investigator Todd Dykes asked Theetge about the unsolved murder of Nicholas Kernan, who was shot and killed a year ago while doing yard work a few blocks from the University of Cincinnati. Theetge addressed Nick’s widow, Melody, directly and said she knows how disheartening it is to know the killer is still at large. Theetge urged anyone with information that could help solve violent crimes — like the murders that killed Kerna, Wiggins and Davis — to contact police.

CINCINNATI —

Before sharing what she called “incredible information” about the number of young shooting victims in the Queen City on Wednesday, Police Chief Terri Theetge thanked officers who have worked hard to keep Cincinnati safe.

“They worked so hard,” Theetge told members of the city’s public safety committee. “We had Taste of Cincinnati, a sold-out Reds game, a Flying Pig marathon – many, many other events – and they all went off without a hitch.”

Theetge then went into the details of what happens every day to try to keep people – especially children – out of danger.

“I am pleased to report that so far this year we have 50 percent fewer victims of youth gun violence than in the same period last year,” she said. “Last year there were 24. This year there are 12, which is still 12 too many.”

One reason for the decline in the number of juvenile shooting victims is the police’s heavy concentration on the four percent of Cincinnati’s geographic area, where more than 30 percent of all gun crimes in the city occur.

One example of this concentration of violence is the water barriers that police set up on Republic Street, north of Liberty Street in Over-the-Rhine, to stem the flow of what investigators call concentrated violence.

“It always comes back to gun violence,” said Theetge. “There are too many stolen weapons on the streets.”

There are also too many unsolved cases for grieving families, including the shooting death of Withrow graduate Lamon Wiggins and the murder of 11-year-old Dominic Davis in the West End last fall.

“So far we have not made any arrests in these two cases, but that does not mean the work is finished,” said Theetge. “Investigators are continuing to follow up on leads.”

WLWT Investigator Todd Dykes questioned Theetge about the unsolved murder of Nicholas Kernan, who was shot and killed a year ago while doing landscaping work a few blocks from the University of Cincinnati.

Theete then addressed Nick’s widow, Melody, directly, saying she knew how disheartening it was to know the killer was still at large. Theete urged anyone with information that could help solve violent crimes – such as the murders that killed Kerna, Wiggins and Davis – to contact police.

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